10 Sep Chapter 7 Gender as an Issue in Career Counseling: Women, Men, and Sexual Orientation Minorities

Chapter 7 Gender as an Issue in Career Counseling: Women, Men, and Sexual Orientation Minorities

Things to Remember

The issues that negatively impact the career development of women

The importance of social support, particularly for sexual orientation minorities, in the career counseling and development process

The four factors identified by Spokane, Luchetta, and Ricwine (2002) that lead to change in the career counseling process

The application of theory to the career counseling process for men and women

This chapter was written to set forth guidelines for career counselors who expect to provide career counseling for a full range of men, women, and sexual orientation minorities. Sexual orientation refers to a person’s sexual and emotional attraction to (1) members of the opposite sex, (2) members of the same sex, or (3) members of both the same and opposite sex, although not necessarily to the same degree (Prince, 2013). Prince goes on to define sexual identity as one’s public presentation of self and gender identity as an individual’s internal identification as male or female. The approach here will be to try to identify the unique issues for the groups under discussion that may influence the course of career development and counseling.

It has been pointed out numerous times that most of the theories of career development were developed with males in mind, and some professionals believe they are therefore of limited use to the other groups, including women. Albert Bandura’s (1986) social cognitive theory stimulated the Social Cognitive Career Theory (Lent, Brown, & Hackett, 1994; Lent, 2013) and some revisions of Krumboltz’s (Krumboltz, Mitchell, & Jones, 1976) model, which was based on social learning theory rather than social cognitive theory. Given the contextual emphasis of both of these theories, the charge that they were developed solely with men in mind seems inappropriate. The same can be said of the contextualist theories, such as the ones presented in Chapter 6 (Savickas, 2013). Are the other theories useful with men, women, and people who have sexual orientations that place them in the minority? As will be shown, some of them are quite useful if applied with sensitivity and an awareness of the issues facing certain client groups. Regardless of the model adopted, the career counselor’s responsibility is to make the environment more helpful, perhaps through advocacy, and to insure that the client gains the skills needed to derive the benefits he or she needs from the environmental context.

Women

There are a number of issues that are unique to women (e.g., pregnancy, planned or unplanned) that may co-occur in the career counseling process but may not be as great a concern for men as they perhaps should be. To be sure, men who have friends or wives who are pregnant may have to struggle by making adjustments on the job or by postponing entering a job or starting an educational program.

Unplanned or planned pregnancies are undoubtedly a greater problem for unwed younger women than they are for older women. In 2011, there were approximately 330,000 live births for women between the ages of 15 and 19. Of these live births, 57 percent of the teen mothers were either black or Hispanic (Centers for Disease Control, 2012). Young women who become pregnant often leave school and in doing so lower their educational and career trajectories. Career counselors have a responsibility to identify and help pregnant women by providing social support, helping develop plans to deal with the baby, and preparing for what’s next—what happens when the baby is born and beyond. Educational and career planning for young pregnant women are essential, but they may also need legal assistance, support from the department of social services, and help in dealing with family and friends.

Women may also have prematurely limited their career chances because of sex-role stereotyping, and thus the process that often involves winnowing occupations may first be directed to helping women expand their options prior to choosing. (I have done this, openly challenging options that foreclose more rewarding choices.) I will try at every turn to reflect on the problems faced by women and weave them into the context of this discussion.

The Oppression of Women

The oppression of racial and ethnic minority women will also be discussed in the next chapter, but many of the issues for minority women and women in general are similar. For example, much of the literature dealing with women and careers focuses on inequities in salary, sexual harassment, and various forms of discrimination. As I said in Chapter 1, it is impossible to examine salary data and conclude anything other than that women are paid less than men, about 20 percent less in the United States, and some of this inequity is the result of discrimination (Heppner, 2013). Other factors include time spent away from the job because of child bearing and a greater willingness to sacrifice advancement so that a spouse can advance. It is also the case that women continue to over select lower-paying occupations in the clerical, educational, and medical areas. Tradition and sex-role stereotyping may have persuaded women to stay away from STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) careers and from higher-paying skilled jobs, such as electrician and plumber. However, this information alone is not particularly helpful to career counselors except to remind us that we have two types of obligations; the first duty of career counselors is to make our clients aware of what lies ahead in the work environment and help them develop coping skills to deal with eventualities they may encounter, and the second obligation is to assert ourselves to ameliorate oppressive forces in organizations (e.g., the glass ceiling), communities, families, and work to repeal policies that have brought about wage inequity, whether it be for women or any other group. But how do we do it? Where do we start? Let’s begin by thinking generally about the oppressive context in which men and women, gays and straights, transgender and stable gender persons function, other factors that diminish their earnings, and social action that career counselors may take.

Many jobs, particularly public school jobs and jobs in unionized workplaces, often base pay, bonuses, the likelihood of being furloughed, and sometimes promotions on seniority. The last hired, first fired rule often invoked in unionized industries and the lock-step pay system work against women who delay entry for childbearing and child rearing. Career counselors could lead the charge to have pay scales based more on accomplishment and competence than years served. Teachers in particular fear the evaluation process and its linkage to salary. The seniority system long promulgated by unions may be unassailable, but at the point at which unions are lobbying for approval by the workforce men and women may be able to bargain for changes.

In Chapter 1, I took issue with Peterson and Gonzales’ indictment of the PWE and CWE, Judeo-Protestant and Confucius work ethics. I agree with the need to reform the oppressive aspects of these so-called work ethics, but I am reluctant to throw out the entrepreneurial economic system that accompanies the PWE, because it creates the wealth that can, if used properly, help deal with the inequities that exist in our world. However, religion has been and continues to be one of the major oppressive forces in our society, particularly as it relates to women. The traditions of Islam, the Roman Catholic Church, and conservative Protestant denominations have long been major oppressive forces of women. In the Roman Catholic Church, only men can be priests. Nuns are subservient members of the church. Some Christian denominations do not allow women to serve as preachers or ministers. Although it is theoretically possible for Muslim women to serve as imams, it is not common. I have studied the history of the Christian church and read the Qur’an twice in an attempt to better understand Islam. Islam, Christianity, and Judaism have common roots, tracing their roots to Abraham and Sarah and an ancient, male-dominated culture. There are biblical verses and surahs from the Qur’an that suggest that women should be subservient to men, usually their husband; as another example, it takes two females to counter the testimony of one male in the adjudication of contentious issues.

From the Holy Quran (English Translation by Abdullah Yusuf Ali, 2005):

Men are the protectors and maintainers of women, because Allah has made one of them to excel the other, and because they spend (to support them) from their means. Therefore the righteous women are obedient . . . Surah IV, Verse 34

From the Bible (New International Version):

The Apostle Paul said, “But I want you to understand that Christ is the head of every man, and the man is the head of a woman, and God is the head of Christ. . . .” (1 Cor. 11:3)

Career counselors need to be aware of these and other traditions and prepare themselves to deal with women whose perspective about themselves (their vocational identities) in the workplace has been limited or abridged. I’ll deal more with these traditions in Chapter 8.

Heppner’s (2013) insightful work regarding the status of women was oriented largely to the world situation while recognizing that we have made some progress toward equity in the United States. Her review did not touch on three issues that may be relevant to women’s ongoing battle to attain equity. Religion, which was discussed earlier, was ignored, as was the military and